November 04, 2009
Lara Vapnek, Ph.D, an Assistant Professor in the St.
John’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, has a penchant for
women’s history. Her new book, Breadwinners: Working Women and
Economic Independence, 1865-1920, depicts the role of women as
wage-earners from the post-Civil War era of industrialization
through the 1920s, when women had obtained the national right to
vote.
“I was interested in this topic because people tend to focus on
middle class women and not as much attention is paid to working
class women of this era,” says the History Professor. “There was no
mention of their political views and the fact they entered the
workforce as breadwinners--earning a wage to support themselves and
their families.”
Noting the differences between middle- and working-class women, she
highlights working-class leaders such as Leonora O’ Reilly, Helen
Campbell, and Jennie Collins as well as the Women’s Educational and
Industrial Union and the Women’s Trade Union League, two
influential organizations that fought for equal pay and political
influence during the American labor movement.
Equal Pay for Equal Work
Breadwinners, available in December 2009, is one
volume in the series Women in American History published by
University of Illinois Press. The book describes the exceptional
women who struggled with working outside the home and explains
their agenda for economic and political equality.
According to Dr. Vapnek, from our current perspective, women gained
the right to vote nearly 100 years ago but still in some respects
not equal to their male counterparts. The book delves deeply into
women’s inequality and the active steps women took to achieve
economic independence.
Inducted into the Organization of
American Historians (OAH) as a Distinguished Lecturer for her
superlative contributions to the study of American history, Dr.
Vapnek, a faculty member at St. John’s for four years, credits her
experience in teaching women’s history as a foundation for the new
book.
“Teaching at St. John’s has helped me frame the issues that I
discuss in this volume,” she notes. “There is a long struggle for
women’s rights, even today. With a majority of women in the labor
force, many still face the same issues of securing equal pay for
equal work, protecting themselves from sexual harassment and
achieving career advancement.”